“Yes, sir,” Ella says, smiling faintly, as tears start to form in her eyes.
“Very well, then!” Enrique says.
He then turns to us.
“Well?” he asks. “What are you all waiting for? This wine isn’t going to drink itself!”
“Uncle,” Suzie’s brother, Kevin, says, as he pulls on Enrique’s sleeve, while he’s still sniffing, with tears in his eyes. “Uncle, what are we going to do? How are we going to live without Rose? We’ve tried hard to learn how to live by ourselves. We’ve handled ourselves for weeks while Rose was on her journeys. We learned how to buy food, and how to cook, and how to use the fireplace, but we can’t… we can’t—”
“Do not worry, my young little friend,” Enrique says, as he pats Kevin on his head. “You will not have to live by yourselves, because starting tomorrow, I will move back in with you!”
“You… you will?” Kevin asks.
“Of course I will!” Enrique says. “Would I lie to you? Once I bring back all of my belongings, I will be living here again, and it will be just like the good old times!”
Upon hearing Enrique’s words, Suzie, who was busy filling the glasses with wine, comes running to her uncle and gives him a big hug again.
“Thank you, uncle!” she says. “Thank you so much! I didn’t think you’d ever come back!”
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Kate says. “But from what Rose told us, I understood that the reason you two got divorced was that you wanted to spend time with other women. Shouldn’t you be discussing this with your current wife before making such promises?”
“Lover,” Enrique says.
“I beg your pardon?” Kate says.
“Lover, not wife,” Enrique says. “Rose has been and will always remain my only wife.”
“Right,” Kate says. “Your lover. What do you think her reaction will be to all of this? Can you be so sure that she will agree to move into this house with you, just to take care of your ex-wife’s siblings?”
“Oh, she will be furious!” Enrique says. “She cannot stand children!”
“Then how could you make such a promise in her name, without consulting her first?” Kate asks.
“Oh, I never made the promise in her name,” Enrique says. “In fact, I intend to break up with her as soon as I get back home!”
“You’re going to break up with your lover… just to move in with Rose’s siblings?” Kate asks, somewhat shocked.
“Of course!” Enrique says. “Why are you so surprised? She will be missed, but in the end, she’s just another woman who only loves me for my money and my good looks! I should have little trouble replacing her. There are plenty of other fish in the sea!”
He laughs.
“Now, then, grab your drinks, everyone,” Enrique says. “Today, we toast for Rose: the most beautiful and kind-hearted woman I’ve ever known, and the love of my life. May she always be remembered, and may she continue to live in our hearts, from now and forever more!”
After hearing Enrique’s speech, we all decided to take our wine glasses, and to join in on the toast.
The next half of an hour was spent talking about Rose. We told Enrique of the adventures we’ve had with her for the past week, and he told us of their years together at the mansion. It was clear that none of us were in the mood for drinking, or telling stories, but it didn’t matter.
Enrique was right. Rose would not have wanted us to spend our lives in regret. And we couldn’t afford to avoid talking about her from now on just because it hurt to remember her. Rose did not deserve this.
While we talked, it was becoming more and more obvious that despite his cheerful act, Enrique was likely the one who was suffering the most from Rose’s loss. However, whenever he talked about Rose, his smile would become genuine, and even Kate had managed to smile once or twice during our long conversation.
When time began to run out, we told Enrique that we needed to be heading towards the castle, and we each went to get our backpacks before starting on our new journey. As we were about to set out, Enrique took us aside for a moment to have a word with us, away from the kids.
“There is something that I did not dare to ask in front of the children,” Enrique says. “I saw that you did not bring Rose’s body with you when you returned to the mansion, so I assumed the worst, but I need to know. How did Rose die?”
We all exchange a few uneasy looks, before we finally decide to answer his question.
“This is going to be a bit hard to believe,” I say.
“Oh, believe me, I am not a stranger to the world of magic,” Enrique says. “I am prepared for anything.”
“Well,” I say, “what happened was that after Rose was killed, her body was… taken, by an entity that is called a revenant.”
“When you say her body was taken…” Enrique starts to say, but Daren answers his question before he finishes it.
“He means that an evil spirit took hold of her body, after she died,” Daren says.
“And I suppose that there is no way to bring Rose back, even if you kill this evil spirit?” Enrique asks.
“No, there isn’t,” Daren says. “I’m sorry.”
“I understand,” Enrique says.
He pauses.
“If the children ever ask me what happened to Rose, I will tell them that her body was incinerated,” Enrique says. “I would rather have them believe this than give them nightmares.”
“Then we’ll make sure to tell them the same story, if they ever ask us,” Daren says.
“Thank you,” Enrique says.
He then turns to face all of us.
“My friends, I am sorry that we did not have the chance to meet under better circumstances,” he says. “Just know this: whether you decide to remain in the city or to leave before dusk, you will always be welcome here, whenever you decide to come back. May the gods be with you!”
“May they watch over us all,” Daren says. “Goodbye, Enrique, and good luck!”
Once we all say our goodbyes to Enrique and to Rose’s siblings, we go on our way, taking the shortest route we know to the castle. According to Enrique, as long as we keep walking in the same general direction, we should be coming across a lot of signposts showing us the right way to our destination, so we shouldn’t be too worried about getting lost.
“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Kate asks me. “Rose’s siblings, I mean. I’m not sure how much I can trust that man to care for them from now on…”
“Well, Rose definitely trusted him enough to leave him in charge of checking up on her siblings while she was gone,” I say. “And his concern for the children looked genuine to me. Plus, the kids seemed to love him. I don’t think we have anything to worry about!”
“I guess you might be right,” Kate says. “He did seem serious when he said he’d break up with his lover to move in with them. Maybe I was just worrying over nothing.”
“Look, there’s another one of those signposts,” Hadrik says. “We’re still on the right track!”
It takes us a little less than two hours to reach the castle of Thilias from Rose’s mansion. When we reach the front gates, Daren signals the guards to let us through, and once they confirm our identities, they open the doors. We then all step inside, slowly, as the gates slam shut behind us.
There’s something odd about this castle. I noticed it even before we went in. From the outside, the castle’s windows looked as if they were supposed to have precious gems encrusted on their frames, but the gems were all missing. It also seemed as if several decorations had been ripped off from the towers’ outer walls.
Now that we’re inside, I see that the castle’s interior looks even worse. The hallways are completely empty. There are no paintings on the walls, no carpets on the ground and no vases on the tables. The place looks more like a dungeon than a castle. There aren’t even any guards patrolling the hallways. I’m almost starting to wonder if we didn’t somehow end up in the wrong place.
“This feels like the ogre fort, all over again,” Hadrik says, as he opens Arraka’s amulet. “Hey, you! Arraka! Are you sensing any guards hiding invisibly around here? Answer me!”
Arraka makes no sound, acting as if she weren’t hearing a word of what Hadrik is saying.
“Giving me the silent treatment, eh?” Hadrik says, with a grin.
Suddenly, Kate freezes the whole area around us, making it look as if we were inside some frozen palace from a fairy tale.
“The area is clear,” Kate says. “There’s no one surrounding us.”
“Great,” Daren says. “Now unfreeze the damn hallway before anyone sees—”
Before Daren gets to finish his sentence, a door in front of us opens slightly, and a man that appears to be some kind of a servant from the castle, sticks his head out of it.
“The king will—” the man starts to say, but he suddenly stops talking, due to the shock of seeing the whole hallway completely frozen.
After a few seconds, the man starts talking again, choosing to act as if nothing had happened.
“The king will be notified of your arrival, shortly,” the servant says. “Please wait in this hallway until it is time for your scheduled appointment.”
He then closes the door without saying another word.
“Well, you heard the man!” Flower says. “We still have plenty of time left until the meeting. Let’s go exploring!”
“What are you talking about?” Daren says. “He told us to wait here. And Kate still needs to unfreeze the hallway, before anyone else sees this!”
“I can’t unfreeze it,” Kate says. “It will melt on its own in a few hours.”
“We don’t have a few hours!” Daren says. “If the king sees this, he’ll have our heads!”
“Relax!” Hadrik says. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Good gods, man!” Daren says, exasperated. “Isn’t there anything that ever sets you off?”
All of a sudden, the whole area around us gets covered in flames, and all of the ice quickly melts into water, which then almost immediately evaporates into thin air. The flames then disappear as quickly as they appeared, leaving the hallway in the same state it was when we first came in.
“There,” Flower says. “I took care of it. Now, does anyone want to go exploring?”
“Sure, I’ll go,” I say.
“Perfect!” Flower says. “Follow me!”
“Oh, come on!” Daren says. “What are we supposed to tell that servant guy if he comes back and asks for you?”
“Tell him we’ll be right back,” I say. “And then give me a call through the transceiver.”
Daren shakes his head in disapproval, but he doesn’t say anything else. I go catch up to Flower, who seems to have stopped in front of a wall, not far from our original position. After looking at the wall from different angles, the girl starts to knock on the bricks, one by one, as if she were looking for something.
“Is there anything special about this wall?” I ask her.
“Shush, I’m trying to listen!” Flower says, as she continues to knock on the bricks.
After a few more seconds, the girl finally seems to have found what she was looking for, and she starts to pull one of the bricks out of the wall with both her hands. As she puts the brick down, I see that inside the hole left in the wall, there is a small wooden lever.
“Wow, you sure know your stuff, huh?” I tell Flower.
“Of course!” Flower says. “Petal and I have been through dozens of ruins with hidden passages before! It’s sort of our hobby!”
“Less of a hobby, and more of a tendency to get into mortal peril on a weekly basis,” Illuna says, as the girl’s eyes turn bright blue again.
“I got it!” Flower says, as she pulls the wooden lever.
As soon as she releases the lever, the bricks surrounding it start to get pushed inside the wall, making way for us to pass to the other side. We both go beyond the wall, and enter a small dark room that has a stone pedestal in the middle of it. Upon closer examination, it seems that there is some writing on the top of the pedestal, but it is too dark to make out what it says.
Flower makes a small orb of fire, which she sends floating above the pedestal, so I can read the writing on it. Now that I get a clear look at it, it appears that the text is written in the Common language.
“What does it say?” Flower asks.
“It says: ‘Place your palm on this pedestal, if you like discovering secrets.’ “
“Oh, I love discovering secrets!” Flower says, and she quickly places her palm on top of the stone pedestal.
Suddenly, a hole appears at the base of the pedestal, and two small objects get thrown out of it. As I reach to get them, the hole closes itself back up again. Getting a closer look at the two items, I see that one of them is a piece of a puzzle, while the other one is a small parchment. I hold the parchment in my hand, so that both Flower and I can see what’s written on it.
As I read the text on the parchment, I notice that it’s written in the Common language as well, and that it says: “Find all of the pieces of the puzzle, and I will share with you my greatest secret. I’ve left one of these in each of the buildings I’ve designed.”
The parchment is then signed as simply: “This building’s architect.”
It would appear that this castle’s architect is also the one who designed the ruins from the forest. I now have two of these puzzle pieces in my possession. I wonder how many of them are left.
“Hey, this sounds like fun!” Flower says. “I want one too!”
She puts her palm on the pedestal again, but this time, nothing happens.
“It doesn’t let me get another one!” Flower says. “Barry, you try it!”
“Hey, Barry, can you hear me?” I hear Daren’s voice, coming from the transceiver.
“Yeah, I hear you,” I say, as I grab the transceiver in my right hand.
Flower frowns at me, for ignoring her, and she takes my left hand herself, placing it on the pedestal. Just like before, the base of the pedestal opens up and throws out another puzzle piece and parchment. Flower takes both items and puts them in her pocket.
“The castle servant came back,” Daren says. “He said the king will see us now. Hurry up and get back here, will you?”
“Yeah, we’re on our way,” I say.
After we make our way out of the dark room behind the wall, Flower pulls on the lever again, and the bricks go back into their original position. She then grabs the brick off the ground, and carefully places it back into the wall.
“We wouldn’t want anyone else to discover the secret before us, would we, Barry?” Flower says, with a smile.
“I suppose not,” I say, as we start to head back to where everyone else was waiting for us.
“Well?” Daren says when we reach them. “Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Yep!” Flower says, with a cheerful smile.
“Spectacular,” Daren says. “Now, let’s get moving.”
We open the doors that the castle servant used earlier, and we enter a long, empty hallway that seems to lead directly to the throne room. Before opening the last set of doors, Daren looks at each of us in turn, to confirm that we are ready, and then we all step inside the throne room, one by one.
The throne room looks just as empty as every other part of the castle, except there is a long, narrow, red carpet leading to the throne on the opposite side of the chamber, where the king is currently sitting. Standing beside him we can see the servant from before, and on the other side, an old man that I do not recognize, but who appears to be rather important, at least judging by his expensive clothing. The gnome is now dressed in a more kingly manner than when he made his last appearance, having a golden crown on his head and a red mantle on his shoulders. When we arrive in front of him, he greets us courteously.
“Welcome, friends!” Golmyck says. “Please, make yourselves at home! I’m sorry for the lack of chairs, b
ut I’ve been told repeatedly that it would not be fitting for ordinary people to be seated in the presence of a king.”
“Skip the formalities, king of Thilias,” the important-looking man says. “This isn’t the time and place to observe proper etiquette.”
“Now, now, ambassador,” Golmyck says. “Proper etiquette is always important, lest we descend into barbarism.”
“You speak to me of barbarism, when the people standing before us are proven murderers?” the ambassador says. “I did not come here to hear your lectures. I came here in the name of the king of Ollendor, in order to make sure that the murderers of his majesty’s brother are rightfully punished!”
“Murderers they may be,” Golmyck says, “but they are also our esteemed guests, and I would like to at least hear their reasons, before deciding their punishment.”
He then turns to us.
“What say you, brave warriors?” the gnome says. “What was your reason for killing the earl of Ollendor?”
“We killed him because he placed absolutely no value on human life,” I say.
“Ah,” Golmyck says. “I assume that you are talking about the slave girl he was with at the time. Tell me, young lessathi, are you aware of the laws in our city regarding slavery?”
“Your majesty,” Daren interrupts us, as he places himself in front of me, and he bows before the king. “Please, allow me to explain what happened!”
“Psst!” I hear Arraka’s voice coming from the amulet, as soon as Daren begins to speak. “Hey, you there! Weakling! Stat wielder guy. Half-lessathi. Come here!”
“Half… lessathi?” I ask her, as I get closer to Hadrik and the amulet.
“Never mind that!” Arraka says, in a low voice. “We’ve got trouble. Eiden just teleported in the middle of the hallway, and he’s hiding with that invisibility spell of his.”
“Eiden?” I ask her. “Why would he choose to come now, of all times?”
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Arraka says. “I promised that I’d let you know when Eiden was near, and I’ve kept my word. Now will you tell this buffoon holding my amulet to stop spinning me with every opportunity he gets?!”
“Uh, right…” I say. “I’ll see what I can do about it.”
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